DoctorNick189 wrote:now I will have to make the difficult UCI vs. WUSTL decision...

Me too me too. But I haven't heard back on $$ for WUSTL so it may not be that big a decision. I have some bigger decisions pending if I get lucky with the rest of my cycle (H/Y/S, Michigan, Boalt, NU, UVa) - longshot admits could mean tough choice ahead. But I hope I have to make them.

I'm not sure if anyone else cant wait until April 1st to visit, but I gave them a call and I'll be sitting in on conlaw with Dean Chemerinsky and Torts with Moran on Monday when I go for a visit. The admissions office seems to be really friendly and interested in their recent admits. I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

ctaylor21 wrote:I'm not sure if anyone else cant wait until April 1st to visit, but I gave them a call and I'll be sitting in on conlaw with Dean Chemerinsky and Torts with Moran on Monday when I go for a visit. The admissions office seems to be really friendly and interested in their recent admits. I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

Hi, I'm interested in UC-Irvine and have a question for some of the current students who post here. What are the plans for in-house legal clinics at the school? I know that the school is supposed to have a public interest focus, and I know it's only in its first year, but I would like to know if there is any information out there regarding if/when the clinics will be starting up and what the focus will be? Thanks!

DoctorNick189 wrote:OK, I've sort of asked this question before, but now that I've been admitted, the answer to it is a little more important to my decision-making, and I'd appreciate contributions from anyone who can knowledgeably make them:

Will I be fine on foot and with a Zipcar account (I'd consider purchasing a bike, too), or do I need to own a car? And if I do need to purchase a car, is that something I can work out with UCI, or do I need to have those funds available myself?

Also, the longer I look at the snow on the ground outside my window, the more enthused about UCI I become...

California is not like New York; everything is a bit spread out. You will find yourself in a much better place with a car. I don't think that UCI will provide the car for you, although UCI does offer ridiculously generous package

There are campus shuttles running all day and a decent number of places to get food are close enough that you could walk or bike. That said, I can't really imagine living here without a car. If you ever plan on exploring the area more than a few blocks from campus or going to the beach without needing to hitch a ride with someone else, I'd really recommend using a car to do it.

I don't know that much about the Zipcar program because I have a car and therefore never had reason to look into it. Maybe that'd be all you need. I suppose you could always start with that and figure out once you get here if it would make more sense to just buy one. Departing students (especially people finishing up their grad programs) are often selling their used cars, so you might be able to get a good deal that way if you decide buying is the way to go.

ViP wrote:If you're seriously considering Irvine, which schools are you considering foregoing (whether or not you've been accepted to Irvine, yet)?

Is there something specific that gives you confidence that Irvine would be a better decision than other schools you've been accepted to?

I haven't been admitted at Irvine, but if I am I will strongly consider foregoing a couple T20s. Reasons include:

1. The half tuition scholarship would make Irvine only slightly more expensive than my current cheapest options.2. I feel confident that any law school in the UC system will be a T1 school, and given Irvine's many supporters I don't think it will take long before it is in the Davis/Hastings range.3. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USCA05174. I like the idea of helping to shape a new school.

ViP wrote:If you're seriously considering Irvine, which schools are you considering foregoing (whether or not you've been accepted to Irvine, yet)?

Is there something specific that gives you confidence that Irvine would be a better decision than other schools you've been accepted to?

I haven't been admitted at Irvine, but if I am I will strongly consider foregoing a couple T20s. Reasons include:

1. The half tuition scholarship would make Irvine only slightly more expensive than my current cheapest options.2. I feel confident that any law school in the UC system will be a T1 school, and given Irvine's many supporters I don't think it will take long before it is in the Davis/Hastings range.3. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USCA05174. I like the idea of helping to shape a new school.

There are other reasons, of course, but these are some of my biggest.

Lol @ #3

Not that I have the stats to be making these kinds of decisions this cycle, but if Irvine does admit me (pls?), I would take it without hesitation. I was WLed at UCLA and waiting to hear back from USC and Hastings, but honestly I don't think it's worth it. I'm a reverse splitter so any T20s I get into (actually, even Hastings), I would get zero scholarship money and I don't think I would personally choose schools below T14 at sticker price if I had the Irvine offer.

As for why Irvine over better schools...if the school didn't have such a strong faculty and positive presence, I don't think many of us would have applied even with the 50% scholarship offer. I think it's pretty obvious that Irvine's future is a bright one, and I agree with Neil's prediction that, when ranked, they'll be in the Hastings/Davis range and will climb only higher provided that they can maintain the stamina that they possess right now.

ViP wrote:If you're seriously considering Irvine, which schools are you considering foregoing (whether or not you've been accepted to Irvine, yet)?

Is there something specific that gives you confidence that Irvine would be a better decision than other schools you've been accepted to?

This is back from page 8... (somebody was denigrating UCI, hence the defensive tone).

Between the 15-30 rankings it's almost all freezing cold schools (want to go to Indiana? Illinois? Iowa?) or schools in the South (want some humidity? how about Vanderbilt? UNC? or Alabama?). This is just weather -- I'm just getting started.

UC Irvine's faculty is AMAZING. Have you any idea who teaches there? Talk to me when you're struggling through Conlaw and you have to consult your Chemerinsky. Dean Chemerinsky wrote it. UC Irvine's dean. The same one UC Irvine students have coffee with a couple times a month. They have the opportunity to ask him questions *in person*.

There's a value add in studying with the UC Irvine faculty - and people will pay for that quality. Elizabeth Loftus anyone? She was the memory expert in the Oliver North trial and Rodney King trial (formerly of UW). Then there's Professors Cohen for Econ., Moran for Torts (25 years at Boalt Hall), Weinstein for lawyering skills (LA & NY Times), Burk for IP (formerly at UMN), Menkel-Meadow for CivPro (stolen from Georgetown), Fisk (stolen from Duke, formerly at USC).... and on and on. Dean Ortiz (stolen from Boalt Hall). Overall, UC Irvine faculty are ranked in the top 10 of faculty for scholarly impact.--LinkRemoved-- ... pact.shtml

These people have a record.

Then, you have the Irvine legal community coming out in support of UC Irvine even ITE. Not only does UC Irvine have more employers committed to coming on campus for their OCI *than they have students*, but there is a 3:1 student/faculty ratio. How much easier is it going to be for those students to get personal attention and excellent references? It's certainly not 3 deep at office hours. How hard are the faculty and career services staff going to work to get those students the best clerkships and internships possible? What other school matches you with 2 established mentors in the legal community as a 1L? Or ever?

The Orange County legal community has ample opportunity for internships and clerkships. There are nearby federal courts, US Attorney offices, an active and high profile DA's office, public defender's office, and Legal Aid. What's more, UC Irvine students are already in those offices doing intake as 1L's.http://www.law.uci.edu/registrar/curriculum.html

Let's see what respected OC lawyers have to say...[M]ost of the state’s growth since 1965, and much of its future expansion, is in Southern California. The region needs another top-tier school, says O’Melveny & [deleted] partner Brett Williamson, a former Chemerinsky student.“There is a huge need in having an Orange County school with the resources and profile a UC school can bring,” says Williamson, who has practiced in Newport Beach for more than 20 years and now is managing partner of O’Melveny’s office there.http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/arti ... _by_erwin/

I'm sure they'll be ranked far better than Davis/Hastings, which have much lower #'s and student::faculty ratio. I seriously can't see Irvine as being lumped together with them. Right now, they're poised to be ranked higher than USC and on par with UCLA. Chem seemed pretty confident about that on the phone.

Paraphrasing criteria he mentioned:

1. Endowment - at $20m, he said their endowment is bigger than a lot of schools that have been around for a long time.2. Faculty - they've poached some of the best from around the country (including himself).3. Students - numbers wise are better than USC, on par with UCLA, and under UCB.4. Student/Faculty ratio - 3/1 lolwut 5. Job placement - 70 firms and agencies lined up to recruit. Most of the financial support for the school has come from these firms, and they're certainly looking for a return on their investment in some great lawyers to hire. 6. Selectivity - 4% is the lowest of any school in the country.

There were other criteria he mentioned, but I seem to have forgotten them. He sounded pretty sure they're going to come out of the gate as T20.

Hands down my top choice in the T20 range. Pretty much decided on Irvine over Duke, Cornell, UCLA, USC, WUSTL, and BU. Besides, I like UCI a lot on its own terms, and not just in comparison to other options.

I just got email from Dean Ortiz, Victoria about 'Admitted Students Day RSVP & Northern California gathering' and 'Intent to Register' This is the first thing I ever heard from UCI and I'm so excited. I never got a call or anything But, just to be sure, this means that I'm definitely in, right?

Last edited by poslhs on Mon Feb 22, 2010 7:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

poslhs wrote:OK. I just got email from Dean Ortiz, Victoria about 'Admitted Students Day RSVP & Northern California gathering' and 'Intent to Register' This is the first thing I ever heard from UCI and I'm so excited. I never got a call or anything But, just to be sure, this means that I'm definitely in, right?

you should call them to make sure. so you never got the acceptance call or any sort of acceptance letter or email? just a straight out email about this?

poslhs wrote:OK. I just got email from Dean Ortiz, Victoria about 'Admitted Students Day RSVP & Northern California gathering' and 'Intent to Register' This is the first thing I ever heard from UCI and I'm so excited. I never got a call or anything But, just to be sure, this means that I'm definitely in, right?

you should call them to make sure. so you never got the acceptance call or any sort of acceptance letter or email? just a straight out email about this?

I live in South Korea and my mom got a phone call about two weeks ago from 'someone speaking English' but couldn't catch who was the caller since she doesn't know English. I guess it was UCI law. I'm sending an email to make sure that I'm in. So relax. I think not getting those emails does not mean anything other than you haven't been admitted.

Last edited by poslhs on Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

poslhs wrote:OK. I just got email from Dean Ortiz, Victoria about 'Admitted Students Day RSVP & Northern California gathering' and 'Intent to Register' This is the first thing I ever heard from UCI and I'm so excited. I never got a call or anything But, just to be sure, this means that I'm definitely in, right?

you should call them to make sure. so you never got the acceptance call or any sort of acceptance letter or email? just a straight out email about this?

poslhs wrote:OK. I just got email from Dean Ortiz, Victoria about 'Admitted Students Day RSVP & Northern California gathering' and 'Intent to Register' This is the first thing I ever heard from UCI and I'm so excited. I never got a call or anything But, just to be sure, this means that I'm definitely in, right?

you should call them to make sure. so you never got the acceptance call or any sort of acceptance letter or email? just a straight out email about this?

I'm having a really tough time deciding how I feel about UCI. If you did or you are going to forgo a T20 established school for irvine, can you shed some light as to why?

With full tuition I can see how it would be compelling, but the fact is when they are offering half tuition, that's a $39K scholarship. Still very generous, but people with T20 numbers may be able to get something comparable at a school with an alumni base, employment stats, and a law review. Not to mention the risk that you'd be turning down a T20 for an estimated T30.

That being said, I'm really attracted to the quality of life in irvine and sincere efforts of famous faculty to get me to go. The personal call from Chemerinsky almost caused me to crash my car.

Dean Ortiz just replied my email and assured me that I'm in. (According to her, she read my post and was trying to figure out who I am. It was so funny.) Now my super panicky time is over and I can stop checking my email every ten minutes.

Irvine was my top choice and it still is. I can't wait to see you all!

1800calturk wrote:I'm having a really tough time deciding how I feel about UCI. If you did or you are going to forgo a T20 established school for irvine, can you shed some light as to why?

With full tuition I can see how it would be compelling, but the fact is when they are offering half tuition, that's a $39K scholarship. Still very generous, but people with T20 numbers may be able to get something comparable at a school with an alumni base, employment stats, and a law review. Not to mention the risk that you'd be turning down a T20 for an estimated T30.

That being said, I'm really attracted to the quality of life in irvine and sincere efforts of famous faculty to get me to go. The personal call from Chemerinsky almost caused me to crash my car.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

How about over a T10?

Rather salient article that goes to your question, written by a current law student:

poslhs wrote:Dean Ortiz just replied my email and assured me that I'm in. (According to her, she read my post and was trying to figure out who I am. It was so funny.) Now my super panicky time is over and I can stop checking my email every ten minutes.

Irvine was my top choice and it still is. I can't wait to see you all!

poslhs wrote:Dean Ortiz just replied my email and assured me that I'm in. (According to her, she read my post and was trying to figure out who I am. It was so funny.) Now my super panicky time is over and I can stop checking my email every ten minutes.

Irvine was my top choice and it still is. I can't wait to see you all!